MONTCLAIR – In soccer it’s easy for the goalkeeper to be a lone wolf for the better part of a game, quietly keeping to himself unless a stray ball interrupts his solitude, then making his small contribution to the flow of play before allowing the focus to shift back to the field.

This approach seems to offend Adrian Topete.

The junior from Montclair High School is a team captain and a vocal leader – in games, practices, the pregame prayer, the postgame prayer – who just happens to play one of the most isolated positions in all of sports.

The Daily Bulletin’s Player of the Year can digress about the team and what it takes to lead the team before ultimately concluding, “If nobody gets on ’em, who will?”

Topete’s take-charge, team-first attitude is the 17-year-old’s most striking attribute, which is saying something for a 6-foot-2 goalie who recorded 17 shutouts in 26 games while allowing just 10 goals all season.

“Usually keepers are your seniors,” fifth-year Cavaliers head coach Sergio Mora said. “You need to be very composed. Last year he was just very calm, never got rattled. The same this year.

“I’ve had juniors as captains before but never a goalie. Usually the guys on the field make all the calls. Just because of his character, mental attitude, practice – it shows everybody how to work hard.”

Topete almost always has played goalie and made the switch at age 7 after two years playing in the field. This contradicts his mental approach and athleticism. He can outrun some of the Montclair forwards in sprints, was taller than any opposing goalie the Cavaliers faced this season and, at least in practice, demonstrated a small arsenal of moves.

“He has an understanding of where to pass the ball, which I think helps him as a keeper,” Mora said. “He sees the whole field. He could actually be a field player if we needed him.”

Unfortunately for opponents, Topete chose to remain a goalie.

He was named MVP of the Mt. Baldy League after allowing just four goals to league foes while his team went 8-1-1. Some of that was because of the Montclair defense, always a strong suit under Mora, but Topete was instrumental in a pair of shutout wins over Ontario.

“If Adrian hadn’t stopped a lot of those shots, we could have tied or even lost,” Mora said.

Topete recorded his 17th shutout in the Cavs’ first-round CIF-SS Division 3 playoff game against Nogales, then suffered a hard-luck 1-0 loss to Pico Rivera El Rancho in the second round.

As a sophomore, he backstopped his team into the CIF-SS quarterfinals and was rewarded with a second-team all-CIF selection in Division 3. Due largely to the Cavaliers’ shorter postseason, Topete was left off this year’s All-CIF teams.

If anything, however, Topete was more valuable to the Cavaliers this season.

“There’s many players who didn’t actually like to step up to their position,” he said bluntly. “I had to get on them. I had to go `Come on, dude. Go hard. Focus, concentrate.’

“It’s what a goaltender does, tries to keep the team focused – scream at them – not just blocking shots.”

A versatile leader, Topete didn’t just scream.

Late in his sophomore year he began to gather the team together before and after games for a short prayer. Win or lose, it’s something he insisted upon, even as a goalie and one of the team’s youngest players.

“I’m not embarrassed about it,” he said. “I got everybody together, said, `God help us out in this game.’ I try hard when it comes to soccer and it comes to church.”

The challenge for Topete is to translate that work ethic to the classroom.

He said his grade-point average is in the 3.0 range – certainly not bad – but he would go against a pair of strong currents by attending a four-year college.

For one, Mora said, college is not the first post-prep option for most Montclair students. For another, if he earned a four-year degree, Topete would become the first in his family to graduate from college.

But college has been the goal since his freshman year, and soccer could well be the means to that end.